hockey

The Bruins’ winger rocked Tampa Bay’s Ryan Callahan with a hit along the boards during Game 4 of their second-round NHL playoff game in Boston. When Callahan took offense and shoved Marchand in the face, the Bruins’ player tried to press his face and tongue against the Lightning player’s face, ESPN reported.

“Well, he punched me four times in the face, so -- you know, he just kept getting close," Marchand said after the Lightning’s 4-3 overtime victory gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. “Nothing big.”

"I hope the league looks at it," Callahan said. "I don't know if there is discipline for spitting in someone's face. But for me it's worse, if not the same."

When told that Callahan referred to Marchand as "spitting" at him instead of licking him, Marchand said, "That's cute. Good for him."

It wasn’t the first time Marchand had attempted a licking gesture -- he was caught on camera licking Toronto’s Leo Komarov in the Bruins’ first-round series, ESPN reported. The antics did not sit well with Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper.

"There is absolutely no place in our game for that," Cooper told reporters. ”I don't get it. I don't understand it. I don't. How would you feel if I walked over to you right now and gave you one big lick from the chin up?"

"It's not part of hockey," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman told reporters. “It's not part of any sports at all."

It’s a simple display that’s popping up on porches: a hockey stick propped up outside. It was suggested by Brian Munz, a broadcaster with The Sports Network (TSN). He drew inspiration from a high school friend, CNN reported.

Some added a candle to light the way for those players lost in the crash.

Others left sticks ready at a rink in the players’ memory.

And if there wasn’t a stick available, a jersey and a puck took the place.

While at the Hockey Hall of Fame, the sticks had a place of honor next to the Stanley Cup.

Ten players with the Humboldt Broncos died in a crash last week. They were on the way to a playoff game when the team’s bus hit a tractor-trailer in Saskatchewan. Five others with connections to the team -- including two coaches, a volunteer statistician, a broadcaster and the bus driver -- also died, The Washington Post reported.

Authorities mixed up the identities of two players involved in the bus crash involving members of the Humboldt Broncos that killed 15 people, a spokesman for Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice told Canadian Press.

Drew Wilby said Monday that officials at the coroner’s office misidentified the body of Parker Tobin, 18, for that of Xavier Labelle.

Labelle is injured but alive, Wilby said. Tobin is among the 15 who were killed when the bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game in northeastern Saskatchewan collided with a tractor-trailer Friday.

Wilby said the coroner’s office followed standard procedure to identify the victim, but the mixup occurred because the players had all dyed their hair blond, were around the same age and had the same athletic build, Canadian Press reported.

Over the weekend, Tobin’s family had tweeted that the goalie was alive .

“This is one of the hardest posts I have ever had to make,” Rhonda Clarke Tobin wrote Saturday. “Parker is stable at the moment and being airlifted to Saskatoon hospital. Thank you all for your kind words and messages. Please continue to pray for his Humboldt family.”

Labelle's family had confirmed his death over the weekend before the mistake was revealed.

Wilby said dental records are the best way to make an identification, but would take days to track down because the players lived in different areas of western Canada, Canadian Press reported.

Wilby said the mistake was “unprecedented,” adding that the families affected have been very understanding.

A vigil for those killed was held at the team’s home arena and was attended by thousands, Canadian Press reported.

Among those attending was Nick Shumlanski, the first player released from hospital.

On Sunday night, he tweeted out a statement saying the support he's received has been helpful.

"Although reality hasn't really set in yet, it is truly devastating to have lost so many close friends, brothers and amazing coaches. Times are tough right now but the support you all have shown is so amazing," he wrote.

The Humboldt Broncos were heading to Nipawin, Saskatchewan, when the bus the players and coaches were riding on was T-boned by a tractor-trailer. Here are a few things to know about this junior team that plays in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

Home base: Humboldt is a city in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located 70 miles west of Saskatoon.

Trailing series: Humboldt was facing a 3-1 series deficit in the semifinals of their SJHL series. The Broncos lost in triple overtime to Napawin on Wednesday night in Humboldt. Game 5 was postponed by the junior-A league Friday night. Game 6 was scheduled for Sunday in Humboldt. The Estevan Bruins had already advanced to the championship final.

Great record: The Broncos are the most successful team in SJHL history, winning 10 league championships. Humboldt has won the RBC Cup, which is Canada’s junior A championship, two times since 1996.

Broncos in the NHL: Humboldt has produced six players who have played in the NHL since the Broncos were founded in 1970: Sheldon Brookbank, Curt Giles, Neil Hawryliw, Grant Jennings, Bill McDougall and Terry Ruskowski played for Humboldt. Jennings won a pair of Stanley Cup titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992.

From all over: Humboldt team president Kevin Garinger said the Broncos roster includes players from Edmonton, Slave Lake and Airdrie in Alberta and from Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Scott Foster, pressed into action when Chicago lost goalies Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia, stopped all seven shots he faced in the third period to help preserve the Blackhawks 6-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets .

"This is something that no one can ever take away from me," Foster said. "It's something that I can go home and tell my kids and they can tell their friends. ... Just a ton of fun."

Delia got the start in goal after Forsberg was a late scratch, the Chicago Tribune reported. Down to just one goalie, the Blackhawks signed Foster to an amateur tryout contract. Foster played at Western Michigan University from 2002 to 2006, ESPN reported.

“It was opening day for baseball but we had to go to the bullpen a couple of times today,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville told the Tribune.

Foster is part of a crew of recreational goaltenders who staff Chicago's home games in case of emergencies for either team. But Thursday night was different for the married father of two..

"The initial shock happened when I had to dress. I think you just kind of black out after that," Foster said.

Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves became the first emergency goalie to play in a game in the modern era last season, ESPN reported. He closed out the final 7.6 seconds of a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay.

For Foster, it was a night to remember.

"A few hours ago I was sitting on the computer typing on a 10-key, and now I'm standing in front of you guys having just finished 14½ minutes of NHL hockey," he told reporters.

Huizenga was involved in various charities and funded the business school bearing his name at Nova Southeastern University.

He bought a small portion of the Dolphins in 1990 and became full owner of the team three years later. They went to the playoffs seven times during his ownership, and South Florida hosted three Super Bowls.

Huizenga sold the team to Stephen Ross over the course of 2008 and 2009. He sold the Marlins in 1998 and the Panthers in 2001.

The fourth-seeded Eagles upset top-seeded East Lake High School in an elimination game Sunday before routing Tampa’s Jesuit High School 7-4 later in the day to win the Lightning High School Hockey League Tier 1 state title, according to ESPN.

Officials with Jesuit High School congratulated the Stoneman Douglas team on Twitter after the win.

“The SD players endured unimaginable tragedy at their school, and now they will bring a state title back to their grieving community,” school officials said.

Stoneman Douglas senior Matthew Horowitz told WBBH-TV that the team was awarded 17 medals, one for each player on the ice. He said the team plans to bring the medals back to the school to honor each of the 17 shooting victims.

The ice hockey league is sponsored by Statewide Amateur Hockey of Florida, according to ESPN.

USA Hockey said Johannson died at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“We are beyond shocked and profoundly saddened,” USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher said in the statement. “As accomplished as Jim was in hockey, he was the absolute best, most humble, kind and caring person you could ever hope to meet. His impact on our sport and more importantly the people and players in our sport have been immeasurable. Our condolences go out to his entire family, but especially to his loving wife Abby and their young daughter Ellie.”

Johannson’s death comes a few weeks before the United States competes at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The Games begin Feb. 9.

Johannson has been with USA Hockey since 2000. This season was going to be a challenge for the American team, as it would be competing without NHL players for the first time since 1994.

Johannson played college hockey at Wisconsin from 1982 to 1986 and led the Badgers to an NCAA title as a freshman. He played for the U.S. men’s hockey team in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics.

This year’s U.S. hockey squad is coached by Tony Granato, who was Johannson’s teammate on the 1988 squad.

Team co-owner and former star forward Mario Lemieux won an NHL award Saturday for having the greatest moment in the history of the league.

Lemieux’s five goals in five different ways against the New Jersey Devils in 1988 beat out Bobby Orr’s game-winning goal to win the 1970 Stanley Cup for the Boston Bruins.

The contest was voted on by fans to commemorate the NHL’s first 100 years. Fans voted on the bracket-style format to determine which moment was the greatest.

On Dec. 31, 1988, Lemieux scored an even-strength goal, a power-play goal, a short-handed goal, a penalty shot goal and an empty net goal. It was the only time in NHL history that a player had scored in five different ways.